Monday, May 30, 2016

Learn and Pass It On

I am an artist and a teacher. One of my favorite things to do as a teacher is to travel to different art centers, art clubs, and associations and give demonstrations. I get to meet so many fascinating people who are just as passionate about art, and how its created.

The subjects may include landscape, still-life or portrait but my primary focus is to share my knowledge in a fun entertaining way that will inspire the attendees to try a new approach to painting or to discover a way of seeing something that they haven't before. Just as important, I want to reassure beginning students that there are stages to learning that we all must work through to become better artists and encourage them to keep at it.

Documented here is from a recent still life demo. Most venues provide wireless microphones and overhead video projection so everyone can see and hear.

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Pictured above is a four step breakdown of my approach for this particular demo. Having only one hour to paint this, I wanted to show a systematic approach. (See my May 9th &16th posts to learn more approaches to painting). First is finding the composition. Second is stating the dark values. Third working middle values. Fourth, adding highlights and relevant detail.